Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Will you celebrate or commiserate on Malaysia Day? By Mariam Mokhtar
Friday, September 16, 2022
Malaysiakini : The mini-skirt was introduced during the revolutionary swinging 60s
when a political youth movement of teenagers refused to dress like their
parents. It makes little sense that Malaysians can wear the mini-skirt,
figure-hugging kebayas or short-sleeved cheongsams for just one day,
but we are barred from visiting government departments dressed in a
similar fashion for the rest of the year.
Performances for this
year’s Malaysia Day will also highlight freedom fighters such as Mat
Kilau and Rosli Dhobi, who fought for independence from the British and
assassinated the governor of Sarawak. Will Chin Peng, who died on Sept
16, and who also fought to be freed of British colonial rule, be
remembered?
‘More equal than others’
In Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s ‘Keluarga Malaysia’, some families
are more equal than others. In my unscientific guess, 93 percent of the
nation’s wealth is probably held by seven percent of Malaysia’s most
wealthy families.
If a corruption charge is made against a senior
politician, we may probably find obstacles thrown our way, which
precludes further investigations. Intermarriage between members of
political families with members of noble families in our class-conscious
society will expose and throw the elite into the negative glare of
publicity.
Article 11 guarantees Malaysians freedom of religion,
but ask the East Malaysian who lives in Peninsular Malaysia what it was
like when his life was made a living hell by the conservative
Malays/Muslims during the “Allah” issue debacle.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob
In
Peninsular Malaysia, East Malaysians who attended sermons in Bahasa
Malaysia could not pray with the Malay bible, but all this was allowed
in East Malaysia. Does God observe geographical boundaries?
When a former education minister
visited East Malaysia, he was more concerned about increasing the
number of religious teachers for schools in Sarawak. East Malaysians
reject the warped interpretation of Islam from conservative West
Malaysian Muslims who pollute the minds of young Sarawakians.
When it comes to education, Sarawak leaders have rightly emphasised
the importance of English. Many teachers posted to Sabah and Sarawak are
sourced from peninsular, and from what many parents allege, many of the
teachers can barely speak English, much less teach it.
Parents
are also worried that teachers who are found guilty of sexual abuse are
transferred to remote locations in Sabah. Rural East Malaysia should not
be the dumping ground for criminal teachers.
Vote bank
What has happened about the Sulu sultanate threat? The government seems to have gone quiet about the seizure
of Petronas global assets, and what are they going to do about the
other threats mentioned by the Sulus? Sabahans are worried, but
Putrajaya’s silence does not leave many Sabahans reassured and feeling
confident.
It has been 46 years since the Double-Six air crash,
which killed several members of the Sabah state assembly, including
Fuad Stephens, the Sabah chief minister. Putrajaya rejected requests by
Sabah leaders to release the report of the Nomad aeroplane crash. Why?
Fuad Stephens
The
Australian government will not release their findings either, for fear
of upsetting Putrajaya. The people of Sabah and the relatives of the
crash victims need closure.
Like their cousins in West Malaysia, East Malaysians are also angry with their leaders, who promote their own selfish interests and not the people’s.
So, how united are we as Malaysians? To Putrajaya, East Malaysians are simply the nation’s vote bank and a source of revenue.
If
East Malaysians are unhappy and secede, will the political situation in
West Malaysia improve because Putrajaya will have lost its crucial vote
bank? What do you think?
